Dick Tracy

An all-star cast, vivid colors that could give you a headache and Madonna's sizzling performance made many think that "Dick Tracy" is much better than it actually is. It is one of those typical quantity over quality projects that uses smoke and mirrors to make the audience think that it is something unique and intriguing. However, the film is little more than a comic strip that jumps up at you ala the "Superman" or "Batman" group of films. Warren Beatty's performance and in-your-face direction are not totally successful. The seemingly endless name of cast members also becomes dizzying. Al Pacino (Oscar-nominated) steals every scene and pulls a Jack Nicholson from "Batman" out of his hat. "Dick Tracy" is a good film, but it is far from being a masterpiece. 4 stars out of 5.

This is a marvelous film. Warren Beatty managed to film it just like a comic book MIGHT be brought to film with humourously grotesque and bizarre characters, beautiful colours, and a plot that really only could have come from a comic book. The buildings, set design, make-up, and props are like nothing I have ever seen in film before. Now, never having read the original strip leaves me out as far as making probably very insightful comparisons with this film and the original source. That being said, I think that Beatty, although drastically changing some of the villains in the film to fit smaller roles, tried to keep the spirit of the film inside the comic strip. Does that make sense? Probably not. Anyway, Dick Tracy offers a lot. It is a visual feast with a decent story and some prime time stars doing some things you may not expect from them. Beatty is very good as the lawmen, but much of the supporting cast steals many scenes from him. Al Pacino as Big Boy Caprice is sensational as an over-the-top thug out to get every criminal under his control, while he intermittenly quotes folks like Nietchze, Jefferson, and other historical figures. Dustin Hoffman as Mumbles is wonderful - if you can finally figure out that it is him(notice in the scene where a stenographer is taking down what he says((That is Oscar winner Kathy Bates!))). James Caan has a brief yet good scene with Pacino Godfather style and Beatty gives Michael J. Pollard and Estelle Parsons cameos as well(both co-starring with him in Bonnie and Clyde). Then there is Madonna. She tries her best to live up to her name of Breathless and does a VERY credible job at it. And then of course there is the music of Stephen Sondheim, an Oscar winner for this film. It is very good and in some ways more memorable than much of what goes on in the film. Perhaps a song here or there might have been cut, but for the most part the music greatly added to the overall effects created in the film. Is Dick Tracy great? No, but it is a whole lot better than it is generally given credit for. In some ways its innovation must be reviewed again. I think that for its type of film it is one of the best.

Warren Beatty successfully bringing the comic strip to life , the renowned police detective Dick Tracy who this time tries to solve a case involving Big Boy , the public enemy nº 1 . Beatty wears the caps on all fronts , as he is actor , writer , producer and filmmaker , incarnating the legendary police detective Dick Tracy from Chester Gould's comics and his relentless crusade against crime . However his Tracy is somewhat flat in comparison other comic book heroes . Dick Tracy is the only man tough enough to take on ranting mobster boss Big Boy Caprice (Al Pacino) and his band of menacing mobsters (William Forsythe and Dustin Hoffman who made a small character as Mumbles as a favor for Warren Beatty) . Big Boy and his gang set out a wave of crime that bring them face to face with dapper Tracy . Dedicated to his work but at the same time devoted to his loyal sweetheart (Glenne Headly ), Tracy find himself torn between love and duty . Tracy becomes even more difficult when he gets saddled with an engaging orphan (Charlie Korsmo) . The comic strip detective finds his life vastly complicated when a singing siren named Mahoney (a seductive Madonna) makes advances towards him while he is attempting to fight Big Boy Caprice's united mob . Later on , Tracy tries to find his kidnapped girlfriend while Big Boy is on the loose .

This comic strip spring to life similarly the original drawings and being faithfully recreated , though sometimes looks like an extended stage musical . The bad guys all have overblown features and they and the cops , journalists all wear different coloured coats to correspond to the drawings in the original comic strips created by Chester Gould . The timeless and imaginative settings capture the essence rather than reality of the city . There's so much music in the movie mostly from Mandy Patinkin and especially Madonna as the singer Breathless Mahoney doing her best screen acting to date . Good though excessive performances from Al Pacino who is perfectly cast as the gangster Big Boy looking like a caricaturist impression of a cartoon and splendid Dustin Hoffman as his hoodlum named Mumbles . The make-up used for all of the villains was based directly on how they were drawn by Chester Gould in the original comic strip , the only exception was Big Boy Caprice, whose make-up was designed by Al Pacino himself. People expecting Gothic scenarios and spectacular action of Batman may be disappointed , but moviegoers will be thrilled . Colorful and stylistically superior cinematography by the Italian Vittorio Storaro , shot in a few colors , the main colors in the film are only six that the original comic strip appeared in: red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple, plus black and white . Jolly and amusing musical score by Danny Elffman .

Other films about this classic comic book character are the followings : ¨Dick Tracy¨ (1947) 15 chapters starred by Ralph Byrd and directed by John English and Ray Taylor ; ¨Dick Tracy Detective¨ (1945) the first feature movie directed by William Berke with Morgan Conway and Jane Greer ; ¨Tracy returns¨ 15 chapter serial directed by William Witney with Ralph Byrd ; ¨Tracy meets gruesome ¨(1947) with Ralph Byrd and Boris Karloff ; ¨Tracy vs Crime Inc¨; ¨Tracy vs Cueball¨(1946) by Gordon Douglas with Morgan Conway and Anne Jeffreys ; ¨Tracy's dilemma¨ by John Rawlins with Ralph Byrd and Jack Lambert , among others .

If Dick Tracy was in black and white, the pope wouldn't be religious. Giving a new sense to the concept of color in a movie, we are offered an unique experience throughout a comic-strip world, and it's one of the few movies which succeeded in doing so, thanks to a serious script, good direction, great performances (Al Pacino is astonishing) and most importantly a powerful mix of cinematography, art direction and costume design. Using only primary colors, the experience is quite different from anything we have seen before. And there is also a quite successful hommage to all the gangster-movie genre, pratically extinct from modern cinema. Overall, I see this movie as a fresh attempt and a touch of originality to a cinema which relies more and more on the old and already-seen formulas. 7 out of 10.

If you were a fan of previous incarnations of Dick Tracy, then this is the film for you. If not, find another film to watch...

Warren Beatty does a decent enough job as Dick Tracy who battles the underworld. Warren also directed this film and did a good job.

Dick Tracy was always a great character complete with an unrivalled rogues gallery of villains (except for Batman). The villains are all here and kudos to the make-up department who made the bad guys totally hateful. The plot is also quite good as well and the colour is good too. I believe the film was shot in only six (or maybe seven) colours and the sets of the city are totally faithful to the original Dick Tracy comic strips.

Obviously, this film tried to emulate Batman but immitation is the sincerest form of flattery. This film is almost as good as Batman and certainly not deserving of the criticism it had when it first came out.

One more thing-Madonna as Breathless Mahoney. I don't know if a film like this suited Madonna but it was great to see her in it because she is beautiful and improves with age.

All in all, a cracker of a film which I urge youngsters to see because they will enjoy it.